Catchfence

“National Guard No. 4 Car Finished Sixth Last Year; Team Hopes for Similar Result Sunday”

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – (August 5, 2009) – Panther doesn’t have to travel far this weekend for the IndyCar Series’ upcoming Honda Indy 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course – located just a few hours from Indianapolis, and even closer to the location of last weekend’s race at Kentucky Speedway. Panther hopes a return to the 13-turn, 2.258-mile circuit, where they led the race and finished sixth last season, will help propel them back to the top side of the grid.

National Guard driver Dan Wheldon will be making his third start at the track, and has a best career finish of 10th, recorded in 2007 while driving for Ganassi Racing. Wheldon has collected three Top Five and eight Top Ten results this season, and the 2005 Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar Series champion looks to return to the front of the field this weekend. He ranks seventh in the IndyCar Series championship chase, tied with Andretti Green Racing driver Tony Kanaan.

Wheldon was taken out of the first race of the season by Robert Doornbos in St. Petersburg, but has since finished every race, a stretch that included eight-consecutive Top Ten finishes until a 14th-place finish in Toronto.

Both drivers tested at Mid-Ohio earlier in the season, but the track conditions were very wet due to rain storms.

The team will travel to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course next weekend, where the Honda Indy 200 will be broadcast live on VERSUS next Sunday at 1p.m. (EST), with additional coverage provided by the IMS Radio Network, www.indycar.com and Sirius XM channel 211.

Dan Wheldon, No. 4 National Guard Dallara Honda

“We learned a lot in Edmonton about the direction in which we need to work on our road course package and we’re going to work on that starting this weekend at Mid-Ohio. It’s a fun track and I’m looking forward to returning there with the National Guard Panther Racing team. We haven’t had the results that perhaps we’ve wanted the past few weekends, but all the guys have been working hard and we hope to roll off the truck strong on Friday and have a good race.”